Leather-shaving knife



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE.

J. B. WENCHVCRTH, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

LEATHER-SHAVING- KNIFE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 20,911, dated July 13, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. WENTWORTH, of Lynn, in the county of Essexand Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement Vin Leather- Shaving Knives; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description of theconstruction and operation of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is a perspective view of the instrument ready for use; Fig. 2is a view of the blade removed from the stock; Fig. 3 is an outside Viewof one half of the stock; Fig. 4 is an inside view of the other half ofthe stock; and Fig. 5 is a section of the smaller end of handle, B.

Like parts are indicated by the same let'- ters in all the drawings.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willnow describe its construction and operation.

A is a wooden handle, on a line with the stock, and shaped like those incommon use.

B is the cross handle, attached to the other end of the stock in theusual manner, but of a new and peculiar shape so as to lit the hand andact as a brace upon the lower edge of the same, and also upon the thumb,to enable a person to carry the knife level and at once perceive itsexact position in forcing it down upon the leather. The middle of thishandle is convex, while the lower part, at 1, is concave, and terminatedwith a bulge, or knob, at 2, to rest against the edge of the hand. Theother end of the handle, as seen in Fig. 1, is made smaller to arch thethumb, and is also provided with depressions, b, (see Figs. 1 and 5) forthe ball of the thumb, whereby the implement is braced and preventedfrom rocking in the hand.

C C (Fig. 1,) is the stock made in two parts; an outside view of onehalf being seen in Fig. 3, and an inside view of the other half in Fig.4. These halves are made of steel, and, as will be seen in Figs. 1 and3, are beveled from the line to y; the part between m and w, beingparallel with the inner side. These halves are held together and confinethe blade, D, between them, by means of seven screws which pass throughhalf, C C, and screw into C C; two of said screws, f and f, passingthrough the Shanks,

and ve, e, e, e, e, e, through the unbeveled part of the stock, as shownin Fig. 1. These screws, with the exception of f f (which secure thecorners of the blade) are set on a line upon the side, or back, of thestock, and at a distance from the center of the same. Thus the back ofthe stock, being the heaviest part, acts as a sort of counterbalance tothe action of the cutting edge of the blade. The blade, D, being carriedhorizontally, or level, and the edge cutting at a right angle with it,it is obvious that, by placing the screws at a distance from the centerof the stock, the cutting edge of the knife may be very much nearer to aline passing through the center of the handles, A and B, and therebygreatly shorten the leverage of the cutting edge; which is veryimportant, inasmuch as the leastcant would injure the skin, or leather.

In the Tomlinson patent, and in all other shaving-knives with which I amacquainted, the heaviest part of the stock is the center, requiring ahard grip and great strength in the arms, to keep it level and free fromrocking; whereas this diiiiculty is eifectually obviated in my inventionby the counterbalance, and shorter leverage, alluded to above. I alsomake the bevel more tapering, without widening the stock, or alteringthe leverage; which constitutes another improvement over any other stockextant.

D Fig. 2 is the blade, with slots, d, d, d, d, d, through which pass thescrews, e, e, e, e, e, which confine the blade between the two halves ofthe stock. These slots, as seen in Fig. 2, are about one third as longas a new blade is wide. When a new blade is rst put into the stock, theends of the slots, as seen in Fig. 1, are brought up to the screws, e,from the beveled side, and moved out, as used up. When one side is thusworn up, the blade is taken out and turned so as to use the other side.

I have used a leather shaving knife for more than twenty years, and findthat this of mine is much superior to all others, for l the center fromy to z, and provided With lightness, safety, and the ease with which itscrews, e, combined with a blade, D, having 10 is Worked. slots, d,operating as, and for the purpose What I claim as my invention anddesire specified. 5 to secure by Letters Patent, is JOHN B. WENTWORTH.

The Within described leather shaving Witnesses: knife, consisting of astock, C C, with N. AMES,

O. C. SLEEPER.

bevel only on one edge, extending beyond

